Kal-Sharok: The Crumbling City *** Version 1.01: a great big thank you to everyone who tested the mod and gave feedback. You're legend- wait for it- ary. Updates in the version: -Companions will now gain XP, and can be chosen by ‘partypicker’ in certain ‘safe’ indoor areas, such as the Home-Away-From-Home tavern. (Thanks to Mengtzu's awesome Follower Tutorial- a very simple set of instructions for an insanely tricky enterprise) -Extra areas, fights and conversations added for your return into Kal-Sharok, giving it more of a dynamic ‘cliffhanger’ ending -Certain fights made easier -Conversation loops eradicated -A‘Talkative Miner’ will give hints on companion options, possible quests, and directions -Music added to all areas -Shearclaw should now be more effective in combat. -Various floating/skewed placeables realigned -Quests arranged into categories for easier use -Various stages fixed -Stores fixed -Additional map pins -Kal-Sharok and the Outskirts now have area lists -Starting conversation with the Gatekeeper no longer draws the player back away from the gates -The infamous 10 sovereign reward has been fixed -The 'Of Noble Blood' quest should no longer repeat itself -Non-hostile Shadebearer is now hostile -Various items fixed -A player doing the 'Old Wounds' quest can now persuade a noble to seek the safety of the compound -Additional conversation for some of the Foundlings; Oskir now recognises if the player has been inside Selby's shelter -An additional conversation and placeable now spawn correctly in the Unexplored Tunnels; I've also added a bit of detail to the area to make it less bland. *** "Every living creature, great or small, lives in fear of death." The Grey Warden Rouenna Description A small band of merchants, mercenaries and politicians trudge their way through the perils of the Deep Roads. Their destination is Kal-Sharok, the notoriously reclusive and mysterious former dwarven capital. Propelled by their own greed, they dream of discovering great riches or untapped lyrium veins in the ancient ruins lying in wait for them there. One young mercenary, cast aside from surface society, will find a kind of destiny in this dark and monstrous city...for Kal-Sharok is at once both life and death. An attempt to prove that (apart from level editing) any poor schmuck with a complete lack of scripting skill or technical knowledge can make a working, plot-driven module with the 'hard' DA toolset. So far: -Fight for the fate of Kal-Sharok -Explore the crumbling ruins and history of this ancient dwarven city -Recruit four companions, the exiled Qunari mercenary Ashaad, the former elven freedom fighter Valena, sweet-natured Kal-Sharok carta dwarf Bundy, and the ferocious werewolf Shearclaw. -Side-quests with real choice/consequence -Enchantment! -Hopefully, a couple of hours' gameplay (more if you're a slow reader...) TO PLAY: Go to your Dragon Age folder in your Local Disk; go into the bin_ship folder, and extract the mod using DAUPdater. The mod should then appear under 'Other Campaigns' in the game menu. Let me know if there are any problems. Feedback, as ever, would be fantastic and very helpful. Hope you enjoy the adventure! Please let me know if there are any problems; every bit of feedback helps me make Kal-Sharok a fuller experience for other players. Hints and Tips: (SPOILERS.) -Ashaad cannot be as easily hired as the other companions. Talk to Bhello, or find a good enough reason for a duty-driven qunari to join up with you. -The companions can be found at these locations: The Blushing Harlot, the Outsiders' Compound, Home-Away-From-Home, and the Orzammar Mining Tunnels. You may hire all four but the fifth will not participate as an active member of the party, so it's best if you don't hire all of them unless you're really struggling with the difficulty. -The Fade Cultist Area- and the boss-fight that comes after it- is hard. That's why it's purely optional. -You'll enjoy the game more if you roam around and investigate. Clues are generally found in your journal. -Selby's Foundling Shelter can be a little hard to locate. Check your map, or investigate the area surrounding Kal-Sharok Palace more thoroughly. -You may want to speak to Theirin about Selby's mother. -It's probably best if you explore the city fully before wandering out into the Deep Roads or going after Ragnar's expedition. -Evil players: there's plenty for you to do, though it may not seem it at first. -The monsters in the Unexplored Tunnels seem to fear fire. As if you couldn't work it out with all of the FIRE ARROWS, FIRE BOLTS and FIRE RUNES lying around. -There is an enchanter in the module, though you may have to go beyond the main city structure to find him. The Most Useful Feedback of All: If Christmas hadn't just gone past, I'd love to get any kind of feedback on the following issues: -Balance. Was the game too hard in certain places? Was this because there wasn't enough quality equipment available, or just too many enemies? In others, was it too easy? -Plot. There's never any information that's compulsory to drive the plot forward; still, it's unlikely you'll fully understand every story element if you haven't done a bit of exploring/chatting to NPCs. Was the plot unclear in places? Did the ending satisfy? (One example in particular: I wanted to include a little more detail on the romance between Ragnar and C'thala, but I was wary of leaving yet another diary around to explain what happened, and there was no real conversation opportunity to do so.) -Companions. I am planning to give them more input into conversations, particularly plot-important ones. I would also like to give them miniature sidequests. But apart from that, were any of them less interesting than others? Did you feel any of them needed more conversation? Was there a companion build you felt was missing? -Gameplay errors and bugs. I'm sure there are plenty of these, in spite of my best efforts. (To be fair, there are four separate endings.) Please keep 'em coming so I can get the next version perfect. -History/Lore. Were there any elements of Kal-Sharok you felt you'd like explored further? The experience of mining in the Deep Roads, for instance, or the carta wars? -Should I bother working on a sequel?